Case Study: Laika
Best known for their 2009 hit Coraline, LAIKA produces entertainment films, feature films, and commercial videos. As a leading producer of computer-generated animation, stop-motion animation, and cell animation, Laika boasts an Academy Award-winning director, eleven prime-time Emmy Awards, and over 100 international accolades. To meet the demands of producing complex, feature-length films, LAIKA partnered with Advisicon to deploy a customized EPM system using Microsoft Office Project and Project Server 2007. This resulted in an immediate improvement in planning, scheduling, visibility, reporting, and project cost control.
Business Situation
LAIKA had very limited forecasting and visibility of resource demand with FastTrack & other applications. They were unable to assess the productivity of creative resources. There was no enterprise-level view of inter-project impacts, and project planning was not integrated with budget planning, tracking, or visibility of project performance. Inefficient use of resources, reactionary management, unproductive meetings, and schedule delays were all struggles for the company. Project reporting capabilities were nonexistent for this fast-growing animation company!
Solution Delivered
LAIKA partnered with Advisicon, as a Microsoft Gold Certified EPM Partner, to deploy a complete EPM solution that provided the necessary functionality, power, ease-of-use, and scalability required by LAIKA’s complex project management challenges. This customized EPM system, built on the Microsoft Office Project and Project Server 2007 platform, resulted in immediate improvements in planning, scheduling, visibility, reporting, and project cost control. Advisicon also trained administrators, users, and managers on the new system.
Benefits Received
Once the new EPM system was installed and running, LAIKA began to see benefits nearly immediately. The most immediate improvements to the company include:
- Effective management and control of scope, budget, issues and risks, resources, and schedule changes
- Reinforcement of LAIKA’s organizational structure, roles, and business rules
- Collaboration & better communication across the organization
- Potential integration and scalability with other SQL-based business systems
The Company Today
With the upgrade to their infrastructure, LAIKA’s creative team, management, and projects have grown the company into a creative powerhouse in the animated film industry. The LAIKA/House division produces commercial videos, and LAIKA/Entertainment produces entertainment & feature films. They recently expanded their studio to speed production to one full-length film per year. Their latest feature-length releases include Kubo and the Two Strings and Missing Link.
